did you ever have braces?

I started this post after a particular incident, which was actually several months ago – the lesson is still relevant I was at one of my clinicals for school, which is a 12 hour day and for a girl that is used to eating every 3 hours, one 30 minute lunch time is rough. Sooooo I’ve been working on stashing bite sized snacks that I can pop in my mouth and devour in 5 seconds or less, but I digress…

You can imagine my excitement to be invited to sit in on a presentation that was CATERED The presenter invited us to take a sandwich, which to my happy surprise was on whole grain bread and STUFFED with turkey and lettuce – nothing else. The stars aligned, so I ate this sandwich. Lo and behold, 30 minutes later was “real” lunch time. I had packed a similarly healthy sandwich, and knowing I have 5 more hours to make it to dinner time I decided I better eat that one too. The presenter was packing up and saw my meal – “Oh did you see we brought you sandwiches? You didn’t get one? They were so good!”… “um I’d like to say no, but I sure did… and now I am eating this one too… I’m a hungry girl.”
Haha funny story, I should be embarrassed, yada yadaand then came this… “well if I was thin and could eat anything I wanted I’d probably eat that much too”

Wiki wiki whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Back the truck up!
and let me help you remove that foot…

I kid (kind of) – I smiled and left it at that, no need to attack the poor guy. I have uttered those same words to people in my ignorant past, and it truly was meant as a compliment. But it brought to light something that is so misunderstood and oooooohhhh so true!

FIRST - don’t be hatin’ on skinny chicks – or fat ones or tall ones or short ones or blonde ones or brunette ones or career ones or takin care of their family ones – it’s just not necessary…

SECOND – you NEVER know how much hard work and sacrifice is going on behind the scenes while you are busy handing out backhanded compliments.

But back to the point – and this is for you, the one that is working hard to make good choices, maybe enjoying a little reward for all that hard work… it’s not permanent… and that’s something you need to remember.

Have you ever had braces? Especially if you get them as an adult, you’ll notice that even after years, your teeth, if left unattended, want to move to their previous position. I know – I had to get a new retainer made because my teeth shifted. I’ve seen much worse from adults I know that never wore theirs.

Weight can be a lot like that and people don’t understand that.

Once you get fit and healthy, you don’t just stay that way unless you wear your retainer
I started nursing school after my weightloss and I find myself eating lunch with other students or nursing staff where we are learning. They usually don’t know my story, so I am taken by surprise when I hear comments like “yeah like you need to watch what you eat”or when they try to convince me that I “don’t need to be careful about what you eat” or “don’t need to count calories”.

They don’t know that if I am not careful I’ll find myself back at the beginning, the hard work it took to get to where I am, or the hard work it takes to stay there. What they don’t understand is the importance of wearing my retainer – and they didn’t suffer through the braces